Apparatus for sewing neckties



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APPARATUS FOR SEWING NECKTIES Filed March 17, 1958 13 Sheets-Sheet 1 N PI d) U) LL LL.

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Sept. 19, 1961 E. A. HEDBRANDH APPARATUS FOR SEWING NECKTIES 13Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 1'7, 1958 Sept. 19, 1961 E. A. HEDBRANDHAPPARATUS FOR SEWING NECKTIES l3 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 17, 1958 kNkQ Sept. 19, 1961 E. A. HEDBRANDH 3,000,334

APPARATUS FOR SEWING NECKTIES Filed March 17, 1958 13 Sheets-Sheet 5Fig.6

Sept. 19, 1961 E. A. HEDBRANDH 3,000,334

APPARATUS FOR SEWING NECKTIES Filed March 17, 1958 13 Sheets-Sheet 6Sept. 19, 1961 E. A. HEDBRANDH APPARATUS FOR SEWING NECKTIES 13Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed March 17, 1958 Sept. 19,, 1961 E. A. HEDBRANDH3,000,334

APPARATUS FOR SEWING NECKTIES Filed March 17, 1958 13 Sheets-Sheet 8 Icqb'u 24 P 1961 E. A. HEDBRANDH 3,000,334

APPARATUS FOR SEWING NECKTIES Filed March 17, 1958 13 Sheets-Sheet 9Sept. 19, 1961 E. A. HEDBRANDH APPARATUS FOR SEWING NECKTIES l3Sheets-Sheet 10 Filed March 17, 1958 Sept. 19, 1961 E. A. HEDBRANDH3,000,334

APPARATUS FOR SEWING NECKTIES Filed March 17, 1958 1a Sheets-Sheet 11Sept. 19, 1961 E. A. HEDBRANDH APPARATUS FOR SEWING NECKTIES l3SheetsSheet 12 Filed March 17, 1958 aw mmT Se t. 19, 1961 E. A.HEDBRANDH APPARATUS FOR SEWING NECKTIES l5 Sheets-Sheet 15 Filed March17, 1958 I I I I I I I I t I I! United States Patent 3,000,334 APPARATUSFOR SEWING NECKTIES Erie Allan Hedbrandh, Erik Dahlbergsgatan 64,Halsingborg, Sweden Filed Mar. 17, 1958, Ser. No. 721,994 Claimspriority, application Sweden Mar. 23, 1957 14 Claims. (Cl. 112-174) Thisinvention relates to the making of neckties and more particularly to theseam holding the edges of the necktie together on the back thereof.

To permit tying a neat knot and to hang smoothly and beautifully a tiemust possess a certain flexibility and it is therefore important thatthe longitudinal seam holding the fabric edges together on the back ofthe tie and usually also retaining a lining, is not too firm so that theflexibility is lost. For this reason this seam is often made withtacking stitches without any stretching of the thread, but this is notsufficient for a satisfactory result if the stitches are made in a usualmanner, is. if the thread is pulled directly through both fabric partsin each stitch.

The principal object of the invention is to improve a time-saving methodof stitching together two overlapping fabric parts forming thelongitudinal edges of a necktie blank and collectively constituting theback of the necktie, comprising the steps of forming the overlappingfabric parts into crimps all of which intersect a straight line, anddirecting a needle which is longer than the seam through all erimpsalong said straight line and pulling a thread through all cn'rnps in asingle motion, the improvement consisting in holding the crimps of thetwo overlapping fabric parts spaced apart on said straight line whilethe needle is being directed through them.

Another important object is to provide an apparatus for carrying out theabove improved method, comprising an opposed pair of elongated jawsmovable towards each other for clamping the fabric parts, a row ofspaced projections on each jaw to form when in staggered position saidfabric parts into crimps, said projections being adapted to leave spacefor a needle way straight through the crimps and being shorter than theintermediate gaps, a spacing bar, two staggered rows of laterallyprojecting tongues on said spacing bar of a width larger than the lengthof the projections but slightly less than the gaps between theprojections, said spacing bar being movable for inserting said tonguesbetween the fabric parts in the gaps between the projections leavingsaid needle, way free between the rows of tongues and holding the crimpsof the fabric parts spaced apart in said needle way, and a needlesufficiently long to be directed through all the crimps in said needleway in a single motion to pull a thread through them.

Further features of the invention and the advantages gained thereby willbecome apparent from the following description, reference being had tothe enclosed more or less diagrammatic drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 on a large scale shows a longitudinal section through a correctlymade seam,

FIG. 2 shows how this seam permits a certain relative displacement ofthe sewn-together fabric parts in the FIG. 9 shows a side elevation ofthe apparatus as a whole,

FIG. 10 shows a cross-section on line XX in FIG. 9,

FIG. 11 shows a plan view of the work table of the apparatus,

FIG. 12 shows the fundamental details of a drive mechanism for theneedle,

FIGS. 13 to 15 show another embodiment of the sewing apparatus, FIGS. 13and 14 showing a cross-section and corresponding to FIGS. 4 and 5,respectively, while FIG. 15 shows a longitudinal section correspondingto FIG. 7.

:In the two embodiments the apparatus is of such a nature that the seamis made with the necktie turned right side outwards.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 the seam on the back of a necktie shall berealized by short tacking stitches made in both fabric parts 1 and 2alternately and spacing the stitches so that the thread 3 lies betweenthe fabric parts, thus giving them a certain freedom of motion relativeto each other in the longitudinal direction of the seam.

The primary means for providing such a seam, thatare shown in FIGS. 3-7,comprise in addition to the needle and thread a crimping member 4 aboutwhich the necktie is sewn together, and a spacing member 5 serving toplace the fabric in correct position about and within the crimpingmember on a table 6 of special design. The crimping member 4 which issomewhat more than half as wide as the finished necktie is supplementedby an inner template 7 giving the necktie its shape, and the crimpingmember and the template can be permanently united but are preferablyonly guided on each other so as to permit separate withdrawalfrom thefinished necktie.

Inasmuch as neckties usually are narrowest at the middle and wider atthe two ends, the crimping member 4 and the template 7 consist each oftwo parts which can be connected to a unit but are easily pulled apartand withdrawn each from one end of the finished necktie.

The crimping member 4 has two limbs 8, 9 forming a lower and an upperjaw, and in the illustrated embodiment it is made from a thin sheet ofresilient material which is doubled about its longitudinal axis. In thefree state the limbs make an acute angle with each other, as is shown inFIGS. 3 and 4, but thanks to the resilience of the material they caneasily be pressed together as shown in FIG. 5. Alternately, the limbs orjaws may be made separately and interconnected by hinges and providedwith special springs tending to open the crimping member to a suitableangle between the limbs. On the interior side each limb 8, 9 adjacentits free edge has a row of projections or teeth 10, 11 which in sideelevation are of rounded triangular shape (FIG. 7) and in their apiceshave a longitudinal slot 12, 13. The teeth 10, 11 are staggered so thatwhen the limbs are pressed together the teeth on each limb fall into thegaps between the teeth of the other limb, and said gaps are so long thatthe teeth fill out only a minor portion in the middle of each gap. Whenthe crimping member 4 is in its compressed state (cf. FIG. 5) all slots12 andv 13 are aligned thus providing a straight needle way in theentire length of the crimping member 4.

In the embodiment shown the spacing member 5 is. an angle bar and on theedge of one flange it has two rows of tongues 14, 15 projecting inparallel from said. edge and being so wide and so staggered that whenintroduced between the limbs 8, 9 of the compressed crimping member asin FIGS. 5 and 7 they fall into the gaps between the teeth 10, 11 eachon one limb, thus filling out the gaps on the greater part of theirlength.

In addition to the crimping member, the template] and the spacing member5 there is practically only required a needle which is longer than thecrimping member. Such a needle 16 is shown in FIG. 7. It 1s a orochetingneedle of the pawl type and thus has near its apex a hook 17 and a pawl18 which places itself over the hook opening when the needle iswithdrawn through a cloth. A commercial short needle of this type canpreferably be prolonged by a piano wire or the llke with a. somewhatsmaller diameter than the needle proper being welded thereto.

The work table 6 has a recess 19 of the shape of the finished necktieand a somewhat larger cross-section than the template 7. The necktieblank which has been cut into shape and is usually jointed at its middleand hemmed at its ends, is placed over said recess whereafter thetemplate 7 with the crimping member 4 is placed thereon so that it sinksinto the recess together with the fabric as is shown in FIG. 3. Thelining 20 of the necktie is then placed on the'template and the lowerlimb 8 of the crimping member, whereupon the marginal portions 1 and 2to be sewn together are folded inwardly on top of the lining 20 andabout the upper limb 9 of the crimping member, respectively. This isdone by passing the spacing member 5 lightly over the crimping bar asshown in FIGS. 3 and 4 so that the fabric will be smoothly stretchedwhile the crimping member is compressed about the fabric parts 1, 2 andtongues 14, 15 of the spacing member, as shown in FIG. 5, preferablywith the aid of a press bar 21. The fabric is thus given the shape shownin FIG. 7, i.e. the parts 1 and 2 are alternately crimped up overrespectively down below the needle way formed by the guide slots 12 and13, but between the projections or teeth 10, 11 said parts 1 and 2 liebeneath respectively above said way. The needle is now directed throughthe crimping member and the fabric parts, it being given the necessarysupport in the slots 12 and 13, and when the hook 17 of the needleemerges, a thread is hooked thereonto whereaf ter the needle isretracted, carrying the thread along, which is then cut off and knotted.

Preferably a crepe thread is used which is cut off when fully stretchedand knotted with an eXcess length of some centimetres, which length isthen pulled in by the thread itself due to its elasticity. With the useof such a thread the desired flexibility is further increased and therisk that the necktie will lose its shape by a pull of the seam when thenecktie is stretched in length by ironing and tying, is completelyeliminated. Should an ordinary nonelastic thread be used, it must beconsiderably longer than the seam and thus lie in bights or loopsbetween the stitches, which bights or loops, if visible, reduce thesaleability of the necktie.

When the seam has been made, the press bar 21 is raised and the spacingmember 5 is laterally withdrawn while the two-part crimping member 4 iswithdrawn through the ends, the template 7 being left in the necktie.The press bar 21 which is provided with asteam passage 22 at one edge isturned so that this edge will be facing downwards and is lowered toimpart a first. ironing to the new seam, as is shown in FIG. 8. Thetemplate 7 can possibly be of such a design that the necktie can beironed completely when in position thereon.

In the preferred embodiment certain of the parts described above, viz.the spacing member 5, the needle 16 and the press bar 21 are mounted ona frame which also includes a movable holders for the template 7 and thecrimping member 4. FIGS. 9 and show such a design in which the framemainly consists of a pair of stands 23 and 24, one at each end of thetable.

At each end the spacing member 5 has a lug 25 which is pivoted in an arm26 which in turn is mounted on a shaft 27 connecting the stands 23, 24,and the spacing member is thus movable only transversely of itslongitudinal direction, which facilitates the handling of said member.

The press bar 21 is rotatably mountedcn a pair of vertical racks 28which are guided on said stands and mesh with gears 29 secured to acommon shaft 30 which is mounted on the stands 23 and 24. At one endsaid shaft 30 has a lever 31 by means of which the press bar can beraised and lowered, and the weight of the press bar and the racks arebalanced by a coil spring 32 which is passed onto the shaft 30 andanchored to said shaft on one hand and to said one stand 24 on theother.

Mounted on the frame is a holder for the crimplng member 4 and thetemplate 7 which both consist of two parts but can be connected to aunit. Said holder is in the form of a bar 33 which is suspended on thestands 23 and 24 by means of hinged arms 34, 35 so that the bar 33 ismovable approximately in the same manner as the spacing member 5 and canbe raised and brought to rest against abutments on said stands so as toleave the table free. The bar 33 has some securing means, e.g. latchesor clips, by means of which the template 7 is removably secured to theraised bar 33 while the crimping member in turn is removably secured tothe template. The whole assembly is then swung downwards and placed on aneck-tie blank spread on the table, whereupon the bar 33 is releasedfrom the template and again raised.

Mounted at one end of the table is a reel or the like (not shown) forthe needle 16 the major part of which is a piano wire or the like, and adevice 36 (FIG. 9) for advancing and retracting the needle, which isdiagrammatically shown in FIG. 12. Said device comprises two pairs ofrolls 37 which are spring-loaded to clamp the needle and interconnectedby means of gears (not shown) to be driven by means of a crank. Betweenand on either side of the roll pairs are guide sleeves 38 which guidethe needle up to the needle way formed by the guide slots 12, 13 in theprojections or teeth of the crimping member 4 when said member is in theposition shown in FIG. 5.

To facilitate placing the necktie blank on the table, the latteras isshown in FIGS. 10 and 11has a pair of ribs 39 on either side of therecess 19 over which the necktie blank is to be spread. The ribs servethe purpose of localizing the side edges of the blank and are preferablyundercut at the inner sides in order to hold the fabric edges down untilthe template 7 and the crimping member 4 are placed thereon.

The embodiment of the sewing apparatus shown in FIGS. 13 to 15 issimplified in different respects primarily in that the template and thepress bar are provided with projections and function as clamping meanscrimping the fabric while the separate crimping member has been replacedby a support or ruler which only has the purpose of facilitating foldingthe fabric of the necktie.

Said figures show a table 51 and, in a recess therein, a template 52,giving the necktie its shape. The template has a row of blind holes 53each containing one ball 54 supported on a spring 55 inserted under saidball. The mouth of the hole may be reduced somewhat or the spring can beWelded to the ball and the bottom of the hole so that the ball cannotfall out.

A press bar 56 is rotatably and vertically movably suspended over thetable 51 in a frame similar to the one described above. In the undersidesaid press bar has a row of blind holes 57 with balls 58 and springs 59therein similar to the corresponding arrangement in the template, andwhen the template has been placed in correct position on the table withthe aid of swingable holders on the frame, each ball 58 is positioneddirectly above a gap between two balls 54.

A spacing member 60 with staggered tongues 61, 62 is supported by a pairof rods 63 which are movable in bores 64 in the press bar and loaded bysprings 65 normally holding the rods projecting into the position shownin FIG. 13, which is determined by stops '66. By rotating the press barthe spacing member can be swung through the difierent positionsindicated in. FIG. 13 to fold the necktie fabric inwardly over thetemplate 52, and then the press bar is lowered as shown in FIG. 14,whereby the spacing member 60 is applied by the force of the springs 65against the lower fabric part 1, and the press bar is then engaged withthe upper fabric part 2, pressing it against the spacing member 60.

Folding of the fabric is facilitated by a support or ruler 67 which maybe a thin steel band which during folding is held in FIG. 13 position bya pair of movable arms (not shown) on the stands at the ends of thetable. The ruler 67 has holes at the ends to be mounted and heldstretched on pins on said arms, and when the press bar is lowered andclamps the fabric against the spacing member and the template, thesupporting arms of the ruler 67 is swung down and release the rulerwhich is then pulled out at one end. The fabric is then retained on bothsides of the spacing member, as is shown in FIG. 15, while a crochetingneedle 68 is passed along it, penetrating the crimps over the balls, andis then retracted pulling a thread along.

As will be seen from FIG. 15, the needle when penetrating the crimpsmust move the balls 54 and 58 out of its way, compressing their springs'55 and 59. The lateral forces reacting on the needle are opposed by thetongues of the spacing member 60, which tongues on the inside have slotsor grooves 70 forming a guide way for the needle in which the latter hasa certain clearance while the overlapping tongues are otherwise applieddirectly against each other.

In the embodiment of the sewing apparatus as last described the seamwill obviously not be entirely concealed as in the embodiment firstdescribed but the stitches pass altogether through the doubled outerfabric part 2, thus being visible on the back of the necktie. From theviewpoint of appearance this is hardly of any significance and from thepurely technical viewpoint it comprises an improvement inasmuch as theback of the necktie is prevented from becoming wider than the front sideand that it will be easier to iron the necktie, e.g. after it has beencleaned when the old folds may have disappeared.

Further modifications of the sewing apparatus may of course be resortedto within the scope of the appendant claims. For example the balls 54,58 of the embodiment last described can be substituted for the teeth 10,11 of the first embodiment and vice versa.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An apparatus for stitching together two overlapping fabric partsforming the longitudinal edges of a necktie blank to form thelongitudinal seam of said necktie comprising: an opposed pair ofelongated jaws mounted for movement towards each other for clamping thefabric parts; a longitudinal row of spaced projections on each jaw toform said fabric parts into crimps when the projections on one jaw arein staggered position relative to those on the other jaw, saidprojections being adapted to leave space for a needle way straightthrough the crimps and being shorter in a direction longitudinally ofsaid jaws than the spaces between the projections on each jaw; a spacingbar operatively associated with said jaws and mounted for lateralmovement and in parallel relation thereto; two staggered rows oflaterally projecting tongues on said spacing bar of a widthlongitudinally of said spacing bar larger than the length of saidprojections in a direction longitudinally of said necktie blank butslightly less than the length of said spaces between the projections,and spaced to be inserted, by lateral movement of said spacing barrelative to said jaws, between the fabric parts in said spaces betweenthe projections, leaving said needle-way free between said rows oftongues and holding the crimps of each fabric part spaced apart fromadjacent crimps of the other fabric part; and a needle operativelyassociated with said jaws and spacing bar and being sufiiciently long tobe directed through all the crimps in said needle-way in a single motionto pull a thread therethrough.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, comprising a table having arecess therein of the shape of the necktie, a frame associated with saidtable, and movable means on said frame for carrying the crimping jawsand the spacing bar and positioning them in relation to the recess insaid table.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, in which the crimping jaws areconstituted by a pair of elongated limbs articulated along onelongitudinal side and provided with said projections along the otherlongitudinal side.

4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 3, comprising a template, aboutwhich the necktie blank can be shaped into a necktie and adapted to beremovably attached to one of said limbs, both the said limbs and thetemplate being divided transversely into two parts and said parts beingadapted to be removably united with each other to be deposited on anecktie blank as a unit and then be withdrawn through the opposed endsof the finished necktie.

5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, in which one crimping jaw is atemplate about which the necktie blank can be shaped into a necktie, andthe other crimping jaw is a press bar.

6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 5, in which the press bar isrotatable as well as raisable and lowerable, and the spacing bar ismovably mounted on the press bar to be positioned over the template inthe recess of the table by rotating the press bar and to rest on thetemplate while the press bar is being lowered.

7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which said projections areconstituted by separate elements resiliently socketed in recesses in thecrimping jaws to permit being pressed into said recesses by the needle,and the tongues of the spacing bar have their inner sides provided withgrooves forming a guideway for the needle.

8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which the needle is acrocheting needle prolonged with a wire of somewhat less diameter thanthe needle proper.

9. An apparatus for stitching together two overlapping fabric partsconstituting the longitudinal edges of a necktie blank to form thelongitudinal seam of said necktie comprising: first means for formingthe overlapping fabric parts into staggered, opposed crimps, all ofwhich intersect at single straight line; second means operativelyassociated with said first means for holding the crimps of one of saidtwo fabric parts spaced apart from adjacent crimps of the other of saidfabric parts, both of said means being constructed to permit passagethrough said crimps of a needle in a single motion; and a needleoperatively associated with said first and second means and which is ofsufiicient length to pass through all of the crimps formed by said firstmeans at the same time and which is adapted to pull thread through allof said crimps in a single motion.

10. Apparatus as recited in claim 9 wherein said first means isefiective to form crimps whose greatest dimension longitudinally of saidnecktie is less than the distance between each pair of crimps on a givenfabric part.

11. Apparatus as recited in claim 10 wherein said first means comprisesan opposed pair of elongated jaws movable towards each other forclamping the fabric parts; projections spaced longitudinally along eachof said jaws, the projections of one of said jaws being staggeredrelative to those of the other of said jaws, said projections beingadapted when said jaws are drawn together to form opposed, staggeredcrimps in the overlapping fabric parts, the projections of each of saidjaws being spaced from one another a distance greater than the longestdimension of the individual projections taken longitudinally of saidnecktie blank, said projections being adapted to permit a needle to passthrough said crimps when said projections are in crimping position.

12. Apparatus as recited in claim 11 wherein said second means comprisesa spacing bar mounted to be moved in a direction substantiallytransversely of said jaws, said spacing bar having a first row oflaterally projecting tongues at least a portion of which are adaptedwhen said spacing bar is moved toward said jaws to pass between thespaced projections on a given one of said jaws; a second row oflaterally projecting tongues at least a portion of which are adaptedwhen said spacing bar is moved toward said jaws to pass between thespaced projections on the other of said jaws, the tongues in each rowbeing therefore staggered with relation to the tongues 10 of the otherrow, the width of each of said tongues being greater than the longestdimension of the individual projections taken longitudinally of saidnecktie blank but less than the distance between the projections on eachof said jaws, said rows of tongues being so situated relative 15 56 freebetween said rows of tongues and holding the crimps 20 2,781,010

8 of each fabric part spaced apart from adjacent crimps of the otherfabric part.

13. Apparatus as recited in claim 11 wherein said projections areseparate elements resiliently socketed in recesses in said jawspermitting them to be pressed into said recesses by the needle.

14. Apparatus as recited in claim 13 wherein said tongues have theirinner sides provided with grooves forming a guideway for the needle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re.21,728 Schramm Feb. 25, 1941 Hall Dec. 28, 1937 2,122,811 FulirnedoroJuly 5, 1938 2,286,224 Naftali June 16, 1942 2,608,170 Newman Aug. 26,1952 2,754,781 Newman July 17, 1956 Newman Feb. 12;, 1957

